Conveyer.



C. PLETSCHER.

CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12. 1915.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

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l WITNESSES w@ f f CONVEYER. APPLICATION FILED APII. I2. 1915.

1,178,674. 1 Patented 1111.111916.

2 SHEETS.SHEET 2.

' wITNEssEs r.UNITED f sTATps PATENT oFFrcF..

CARI PLETSCHER, OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, -ASSIGNOR T0 WERNER & PFLEIDERER CO., .OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, A FIRM.

CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

vrasanten Apr. 11, 1916.

v Application mea April 1a, 1915. seriamaaosa.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, CARL PLETsorrER, a citizen of the Republic of Switzerland, residing at Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Conveyors,l of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in conveyers for transferring in predetermined regular numbers and intervals, articles from a machine in which they have been treated singlyone after the other, to a second ma chinev in which they are further to be treated in rows on tra-ys or the like, the single' ar'- ticles being delivered at their proper place in the latter machine.

The objects of my invention are to perform this operation'automatically and more efficiently and economically than was possi--A ble hitherto.

In order to obtain the objects of my invention, I employ a specially constructed distributing channel or run. arranging the articles on the boards or trays as required.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation, Fig. 2 atop view and Fig. 3 a side view of a distributing run for four pieces of dough tobe placed in a row on trays passing through.

the proofer. Fig. 4 shows a side View of the second section of the distributing run with the foldin iap raised to form the bottom of the run or the dough pieces to travel onto the third and fourth section (counting the section nearest the reel as first) and with this flap lowered (indotted lines) for the loaf of dough to drop into the chute of the second section. Fig. 5 is a side view of the Ashaft and the special cams working the fold ing flaps of the distributing run. Fig. 6 is a top lview of the folding flap belonging to the second section of the distributing run.

A is a rounder formin pieces vof dough intosround balls in its mo ing channel a.. o

B is the chute leading the dough balls L from A to the assorting reel C adapted to deliver the balls to the distributing run E in regular intervals.

D are the four combs attached in regular interstices to the drum. o, with the anges ci forms the reel C.

cl2, 13 and which together v D1 is the. comb forming the lower end pieceof the inlet-run of the chute B, and D2 1s the lcomb forming the upper end of the distributing run E1 adapted to arrange the dough pieces coming from the reel 4C lin rows of four and depositing them on the shelves f travellng through the proofer F1.

e is the solid part of the distributing run y El, to which the comb D2 is attached.'

e1 are the sides and e2` the top edges of E1.-

e3, e4, e5, e6, and e7 indicatepartitions of the run 'E1 forming the foursections of the channel and their chutes es, e9, 'elo `and underneath for'conducting the dough pieces to the trayf of proofer F1. The three upper sections are provided with the folding aps el., which are` closed while a dough piece travels down the run into the last and lowest section and chute Z1, and open successively as the dough `the chutes elo, e9, and

pieces arrive for es. 612, ela and e14 turn on the shaft en., on the h inges 616 and are kept in their ri'ght position on en., by the bosses or collars em' the flaps are worked by their special cams 618, 'e19 and 620 fixed to the shaft en. The cir,- cumference of these cams are vconstructed and designed so as to raise and lower the folding iapsin the order as described above and as is especially shown in Fig. 5. The shaft e21 which is necessarily inclined, is rotated by means of the universal Joint 622 and.l

the shafting and gearing o4.

-In all the arrangements shown,'the reel C rotates around its axle c2 in the direction-0f the arrow andl is driven by the driving gear of the proofer.

The folding flaps 'foil In Fig. l'the sprocket wheel f and chain l f2 connected to the driving gear of vthe `Eroofer F1 drive the gearing c,i which drives y means of the sprocket wheels 'and chain c5 the gearing o3 turning the reel C, and'also works the` flaps ofthe distributing run E as' explained above. p

The modus operandi of the automatic conveyer' is as follows: The dough pieces L leaving the molding channel a of the rounder A collect in the chute B. The piece resting on the stationary comb D1 is lifted therefrom by the comb D of the rotary reel C, a

The piece carried away from D1 by D travels first upward and then drops on its downward passage onto the comb D2 at'the outlet of reel C and, thus into the distributing l channel Ei, which leads it to its proper place on the tray in the proofer F1. Assuming an empty tray were to be filled, -it would stand stationary before the chutes of the distributing run E. The iirst dough piece to be placed on the tray would travel down from comb D2 over the solid'end piece e and ythe raised flaps 612, 613 and en, to the chute en, from which it drops on the tray f within the proofer F1. The second piece of dough would run from D2 over e and the raised flaps 612 and 613 down the meanwhile lowered'flap e,4 and the chute elo onto the tray f.

The third dough piece would run from D2; over e and thel raised flap 612 down the meanwhile lowered flap 613 and the chute e, onto the tray f. The fourth and last dough piece y v delivered in a single ile to the top partwould drop from the end piece e direct on the lowered flap el, and pass through the chute es onto the tray f, which, now being completely filled, moves away and gives place to an4 empty tray. As soon as the last dough piece left the flap en, all the three flaps, 612, cl3 and el, are raised again ready for the first dough piece for the fresh tray to pass thereon to the chute en and the sec-4 v ondA tray f, and so on as before continuously.

It will be understood that the drawings give only an example of the general design ofthe automatic conveyer forming the object of my invention and that such deviations from the details shown, which would not be contrary to or forma departure from the spirit of the invention, may be resorted to and are included in my claims.

I claim:

l. In a conveyer of the character described, comprising an inclined channel divided into as many sections as articles of the channel Iare to be placed in one row in a required interval of-time, each section with exception of the lowest one being pro vided with a movable flap turning loosely on hinges around'a rod having asimilar inclination as \the channel,- these flaps, when raised, forming the bottom of the passage for the articles to travel on to the various sections, means for raising and lowering the flaps, and a rotary shaft to which these means are attached and which has a similar inclination as the channel, the arrangement being such that, when the shaft is. rotated, the flaps are lowered one after the other from the lowest to the topmost one, and then quickly raised again, all within the required interval of time.

fiapsA covering, when raised, each section with exception of the lowest one so as to form the bottom of the passage for the articles to travel on to the various sections, hinges attached to each of the flaps, a shaft around which these hinges turn loosely, and having a similar inclination as the channel, and a rotary shaft also similarly inclined and provided with means to lower one flap after the other successively from the lowest to the topmost one and then to raise them all quickly again in the required interval of time. J

3. In combination with a conveyer delivering articles in single file, an inclined channel having upright side walls and a stationary top part and di-vided into a number of sections, chutes arranged one underneath each section, movable aps for all the sec tions with exception of the lowest one, hinges attached to these flaps, a stationary rod around which the hinges of the flaps turn, and so arranged at the side of the channel, that, when the flaps are raised, they Y form the bottom of a passage the sides of which are the upright side walls of the channel, a rotary shaft arranged alongside the same, but underneath the flaps, and eccentrics fixed to this shaft-one eccentric for each Hap-and so constructed in circumference and arranged that, when the shaft isturned, the flaps drop one after the other from the lowest to the topmost one, and then are all raised again.

4. In combination with a rotary reel provided in its annular channel with a number of comblike rows of projections, an inclined channel having upright side walls and a stationary top part, a comblike row of projections attached vto the stationary top part of the inclined channel and `meshing with the comblike rows of projections carried by the reel, chutes arranged one underneath each section of the inclined channel and adapted to lead the articles dropped into the section they belong to, to their proper places in the row of articles to be made, movable flaps one for each section with exception of the lowest one, hinges attached to these flaps, a stationary rod around which the hinges of the flaps turn, and so arranged alongside the inclined channel that, when the flaps are raised, they cover the section they belong lto and form the bottom of -a passage the sides of which `are the upright lll() lowest to the topmost one, all the flaps being raised again for the same play to begln again.

Witnesses:

LoUIs CHARLES REESE, ARCHIBALD E. HULGRAVE.

CARL PLETSCHER. 

